Roamio and Mini update today (10/17/2013)

I do use folders, but even with folders I have many dozens and dozens of them. And that is on top of the many dozens and dozens of recordings that aren't in a folder.

If I had a profile option I could, for instance, create a profile for my GF that would only have a bunch of lifetime recordings which would make them very easy to find. Which is very difficult right now. i would create another profile for cable news programs, another profile for local news, etc. All of this would make the management of the My Shows list so much easier.

I'm spending alot of time finding stuff which didn't used to be the case when my recordings were split up between two Elites and I used a two tuner Premiere for my GFs recordings. I knew I would have some issues when I dropped down to one cable card, but I didn't realize it would become this bad.

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I totally agree profiles or nested folders are needed for better organization. Actually, for me, it would mostly remove the need for integrating the NPL as I would just move everything to the main TiVo and the others would simply be clients.

Not me. I would find profiles to be almost useless; especially if switching between them is not one simple function.

How "convenient"- sign out and sign in every time you want to see another single flat directory/folder...... blech

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It's just me but I find that profiles would work much better for a typical family. Plus it could be consistent on the season pass level as well. So you set a season pass in one profile and all recordings automatically go to that profile. It could be really easy and you can view the My Shows list and Season Pass Manager by profile.

They can use the color buttons to switch between profiles. So you can have 4 profiles or maybe one button just toggles through them if you have more profiles allowed. Either way I think that a much better solution than custom folders which would take a long time to set up and manage. Of course both would be best.

Especially if the profiles sync with the Mini. That way you could put one in a bedroom and it could show specific recordings for that person. And they could view the same profile from the main Roamio.

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That would actually be very cool - a default profile for a client Mini.

Folders vs. Profiles - TiVo would never do folders, it would take way too much minipulation on the consumers part to setup and use and it would take way too many new admin screens that TiVo would have to "get right" in order to make it usable.

Profiles on the otherhand, is mechanism being leveraged by Netflix and others because it is easier to implement and understand at the consumer level. And can be implemented with modest changes to the current UI flow.

So debate it all you want, one is probable in time the other isn't even remotely viable.

+1 for profiles. Really though, any solution would be better than what we have. I could work with folders too if there was nesting support. Otherwise its just a more advanced replacement for the current show groupings we already have.

An advantage of profiles that I haven't seen mentioned might also be the ability to put a password or pin on certain profiles. Sure, users should trust one another if they have access to the same box but parents may not want kids to see certain recordings or programming (even the titles) and that could be restricted behind a specific profile with a pin. No pin should be the default however. If all profiles required a pin it would become very cumbersome to manage.

It's just me but I find that profiles would work much better for a typical family.

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Yes, but I am not a family. I am one person and one TiVo. That is why profiles would be of very little value to me.

Custom folders, however, could benefit both single people and family units. And even if I were a family unit (of 2 which is most common for non-single), I would be almost as annoyed.... big whoop, now instead of having a flat list of hundreds of things, I would have half a flat list of hundreds of things.

Yes, but I am not a family. I am one person and one TiVo. That is why profiles would be of very little value to me.

Custom folders, however, could benefit both single people and family units. And even if I were a family unit (of 2 which is most common for non-single), I would be almost as annoyed.... big whoop, now instead of having a flat list of hundreds of things, I would have half a flat list of hundreds of things.

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Totally agree. That's one of the main features that tivo could add that would have value for me.

Yes, but I am not a family. I am one person and one TiVo. That is why profiles would be of very little value to me.

Custom folders, however, could benefit both single people and family units. And even if I were a family unit (of 2 which is most common for non-single), I would be almost as annoyed.... big whoop, now instead of having a flat list of hundreds of things, I would have half a flat list of hundreds of things.

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I'm one person too, but for me it seems like custom folders would mean more work for me. And I would still have a very, very long My Shows list. With profiles I could have better management and also not have to deal with extremely large lists. Since the My Shows list would be split up between multiple profiles.

With customs folders I would still have to navigate down many pages to find the folder I want. I typically want my list by the order it was recorded but with the list being super long I have to go back and forth between being sorted by name and being sorted by date. With a shorter list that profiles would give me I wouldn't need to switch back and forth. I could keep it sorted by date.

I'm one person too, but for me it seems like custom folders would mean more work for me.

? No, you just create some folders in the way you want and set your season passes to put things where you want and you are mostly done.

And I would still have a very, very long My Shows list.

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??? No, you could direct new shows to folders, which is what profiles would do but with only one level and no control like custom folders would enable.

With profiles I could have better management and also not have to deal with extremely large lists. Since the My Shows list would be split up between multiple profiles.

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I don't think you understand my vision of custom folders.... See above.

With customs folders I would still have to navigate down many pages to find the folder I want.

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No, not if they were organized. That is the whole point of NESTED directories.

I typically want my list by the order it was recorded

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Well, then you would have an issue- you can't have it both ways- ordered/categorized and yet in order of recorded (except with each folder). Think of it like an Email client with multiple nested folders AND auto filters. I have my inbox split into many sections with filters directing new messages to appropriate places.

At this point, I don't know that there would be that much difference whether it's called profiles or custom folders, that is if there isn't a limit put on how many profiles you can create.

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There is a HUGE difference. Profiles would presumably just be ONE directory level, not multiple. And the mechanism to switch between profiles is unlikely to be as simple as just moving to another directory (although that COULD be implemented that way). And I am guessing there would be no mechanism for moving programs from one to the other (although who knows).

It is highly unlikely they will offer custom folders at all, much less nested. And just as unlikely the profiles would have nested options either. They do share similarities, depending on how they are implemented, though.

Well, then you would have an issue- you can't have it both ways- ordered/categorized and yet in order of recorded (except with each folder). Think of it like an Email client with multiple nested folders AND auto filters. I have my inbox split into many sections with filters directing new messages to appropriate places.

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I'm not a fan of a bunch of nested folders. I only would want titles in each folder, not more folders.

Of course it remains to be seen if TiVo will offer something. But they really need to offer something to help with the organization of the My SHows List. Because it is really becoming a pain for me with the amount of content I have on a 3TB drive. I couldn't imagine having the 8TB option from Weaknees.

I would expect profiles to be able to include the same program in different profiles, so a show could be in the Mom profile and Family profile at the same time. i would also expect that switching profiles would be made simple, perhaps a good use of the color code buttons that have little functionality. We will just have to wait and see.

There is a HUGE difference. Profiles would presumably just be ONE directory level, not multiple. And the mechanism to switch between profiles is unlikely to be as simple as just moving to another directory (although that COULD be implemented that way). And I am guessing there would be no mechanism for moving programs from one to the other (although who knows).

It is highly unlikely they will offer custom folders at all, much less nested. And just as unlikely the profiles would have nested options either. They do share similarities, depending on how they are implemented, though.

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Fwiw Netflix profiles allows for extremely easy switching bt profiles as well as the ability to have to same things in multiple profiles.

I just checked when I saw this and it seems I was getting a V112 error streaming from the Plus to the Pro. It worked from the Pro to the Plus however. By the time I could get back to the Pro it's working again. Seems intermittent and I cannot reproduce. When I had the issue on the Pro it worked fine streaming from the Elite.